The Witch and the Skeleton
by PrettyLittleWreck
Summary: Shock, Lock, and Barrel play a prank on the mayor and while fleeing, Shock gets injured and left behind. What happens when Jack Skellington finds the hurt witch and takes her under his wing? NOT romance! It's just a big brother/little sister bonding time between Jack and Shock. Rated because I'm paranoid and Shock curses a few times.
1. Chapter 1

The Witch and the Skeleton

** Disclaimer: I do not own Nightmare Before Christmas or its characters! This is a new story I wrote for my friend. She wanted me to write it on her two favorite characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas. I'm debating on whether I'm going to keep it a one-shot or whether I'm going to add more chapters. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!**

Shock, Lock, and Barrel were bored. This was not a good thing, considering their boredom usually caused others pain. Now Lock, the leader and oldest of the group, decided it'd be fun to prank the mayor.

"We'll just go into town, throw some paint at the mayor's car, and leave. It'll be fun." Lock said confidently. Barrel looked excited, but Shock looked unsure.

"I dunno, Lock. We've never pranked the mayor before…" she crossed her arms over her chest. Lock sighed. Shock was the second oldest and usually the first one to agree to Lock's plan, but now she wasn't.

"Come on, Shock, don't be such a baby!" he said. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not being a baby, Lock, but think logically. The _mayor's car_. The mayor is always with Skellington. You _know _what Mr. Oogie Boogie says about him." she said and this time it was Lock who rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, Shock, nothing will go wrong. I promise." He said and Shock gave in. Lock was like her and Barrel's older brother; they'd always trust him and go to him for help. So they collected all the paint they could get in all the colors they could get and they went to the town. They all wore their masks and they all remained silent. Lock stayed in front, with Shock and Barrel following obediently. When they finally came to a stop in front of the town hall, they instantly found the mayor, his car, and Skellington. Shock muttered a curse but Lock and Barrel seemed unfazed by the sight of the skeleton man. Lock moved toward the car and the other two followed. When they got to their destination, Lock and Barrel started dying the car, but Shock hesitated. Barrel frowned at her.

"Scaredy cat!" he hissed even though she was older and usually braver. Lock turned to her.

"I told you nothing bad would happen." He said but then they heard the yelling. They all looked up at the angry faces of the adults and ran, laughing. Usually when they did stuff like this they would do their plan and run away back to the safety of their tree house. But this time, they were pursued by Jack Skellington himself.

"He's following us!" Barrel cried out in fear, reaching out and clutching Lock's hand.

"It'll be fine. We're too fast for an old bag of bones like him." Lock said reassuringly, grabbing Shock's hand and giving Barrel's a reassuring squeeze. And so the three ran into the woods, with Skellington still following close behind. Lock was so busy soothing the now crying Barrel and getting them all away from their pursuer, he didn't notice when Shock's foot caught on an exposed root, or her hand slipping out of his grip as she fell. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed hard on the ground and she found that she couldn't stand due to her ankle being twisted by the root. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked into the frowning face of Jack Skellington. Her whole body stiffened and her eyes turned hard and cold. Her lips peeled back in a snarl as she scrambled away from him, her back now pressed against a tree. Jack studied her. He had never gotten to see any of the children closely, especially not without the other two. But now he did. She could actually be considered a pretty child. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white. Her thick raven-black hair looked as though it had never seen a brush and was tangled horribly and covered with dust and cobwebs, but he imagined it would look nice without the tangles and mess. Her eyes were abnormally large and green, as bright as the headlights on the mayor's car and her pupils were narrowed into slits, like a cat's. Her eyes were framed behind ridiculously long, dark lashes. Her pink witch's dress was torn and stained and hung loose on her small frame. Her black boots went up to her knee and she had black and white striped tights on. He bent down next to her and she tried to move away, but had nowhere to go.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." he said but she still gave him a stony look. He had seen her fall and now gently touched her ankle, causing her to wince.

"Go away. I don't need your help."

"Your injured and alone in the forest, Shock, you need someone's help."

"Lock will come back for me." she said confidently.

"You can't stay in the forest until he does."

"Watch me." she challenged and Jack sighed. Then he reached out and scooped her into his arms. She gave a startled squeak and started squirming, trying to break free, but he had a strong grip so she gave up, though she remained stiff in his arms. Jack carried her out of the forest and back through the town to his house. When he got inside, he set her down on his black couch.

_If looks could kill, I'd be dead ten times over. _Jack thought to himself. Shock stayed stiff as a board, her illuminated eyes darting around as though she was planning her escape, though they always eventually fell on him in a murderous glare.

"Shock, I'm here to help you, not harm you." he said and she continued to glare.

_Please, Lock, get here soon._ She silently pleaded. Unknown to her, Lock and Barrel were just reaching the tree house and had noticed her absence for the first time. They were looking for her, of course, but Jack's house was the last place they'd think to look. Jack reached out to take the green mask, which she was holding to her chest like it was a life line, but she snapped her jaws together with a metallic click, causing him to pull his hand back.

"Touch the mask, lose a finger." She snarled fiercely. Jack was slightly amused. Shock was not a force to be reckoned with, that was sure. But she was scared-that was obvious to him. She was never sitting still. Her right hand played with the string that tied her mask to her face, or brushed her tangled hair out of her face, or fiddled with the hem of her dress, and occasionally drummed a rhythm on her leg. Her left hand was always moving her index and middle finger in an odd half circle pattern. What Jack didn't know was that when she was in her tree house with her boys, she had a bad habit of playing with knives and therefore her fingers were used to having a knife to spin on her hand. She constantly rolled her shoulders back, as though she couldn't get comfortable, and her lips moved even though she didn't make a sound. Another thing Jack didn't realize; even though she wasn't talking aloud, she was saying spells of hers. Lock and Barrel were used to Shock's restlessness, but Jack was mystified. He had never seen someone so still and yet so active.

"So would you mind telling me why you decided to vandalize the mayor's car?" he broke the silence. She looked him straight in the eye and responded

"It just looked so black and boring, I figured it could use a new paint job." Jack fought his smile.

"Nice try, Shock, but I know it wasn't just you. So why don't you tell me the real reason." She didn't say anything. There was no way she was going to tell him it was Lock's idea so he would get in trouble.

"We were bored. I saw the paint and figured that the mayor was one of the few people we hadn't pranked, so I told them that we should try painting his car. The boys agreed and I think you know the rest."

"So it was your idea."

"Yeah."

"Then why were you the only one who seemed unsure about it?"

"I just wanted to make sure Lock and Barrel were doing alright before I joined in."

"You're still lying."

"How can you be sure?"

"You're a good liar, Shock, but it's hard to lie to someone who was there and watched the scene play out."

"Fine. I didn't throw the paint because I was a scaredy cat and was too afraid to throw it." She snapped.

"What were you scared of?" Jack asked curiously.

"Mr. Oogie Boogie says that if you caught us, you'd kill us. I was afraid we'd get caught and you'd hurt the boys."

"You were told I'd kill you if I caught you." Jack was once again amused. Shock nodded.

"Then there's nothing to be afraid of, Shock. I don't kill little witches or devils or barrels." He assured her. She looked at him like she didn't believe him.

"You smell like death." She commented dully. He blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"You smell like death." She repeated, annoyed that she had to say it twice.

"How do you know what death smells like?"

"I've been around Mr. Boogie enough to know death's scent. It reeks. It clings to anything it can find, and the boys and I avoid it like the plague. But you smell as though you've been around it a lot." Her glare wasn't as murderous, but she still remained stiff and still, in her own way.

"Then why do you stay with Boogie?" Shock frowned when he called the bogeyman by his last name, as though they were acquaintances.

"Because the boys won't leave, and I won't leave the boys."

"Why won't Lock and Barrel leave?"

"Because Mr. Oogie Boogie is all they've ever known. To them, Mr. Oogie Boogie isn't just a boss; he's a savior, he's a protector, hell, he's their religion! They'd follow him anywhere. And I'll follow Lock anywhere. So in the end, I'm just as damned as them." Her cat eyes dared him to challenge her, dared him to object to her life plan. And Jack did object. Oogie Boogie was the bogeyman, feared and yet at the same time respected by all. The Boogie boys, on the other hand, were seen as nuisances. But no one ever thought that the Boogie boys stayed with the bogeyman because they felt like they had no choice, not because they wanted to.

"What do you mean, 'all they've ever known'?" he asked. Jack knew that people weren't born in Halloween Town; everyone in the town lived there because they had died on Halloween. So they all had two lives: one before they died and the one after they'd died.

"They were orphans before they came here. Mr. Oogie Boogie is the only father figure they've ever known. They would never leave that, even if they don't always like Mr. Oogie Boogie."

"You weren't an orphan?"

"No. I had a family. But they're gone. Lock and Barrel are my family now."

"But they're not, Shock. You might think that, but Lock and Barrel aren't your family."

"Even if they aren't my real family, I consider them my brothers and you can't change that."

"You can always leave, Shock."

"No. I can't leave Mr. Oogie Boogie. You see, the moment I met Lock and he invited me to be a Boogie boy, I sold my soul to the devil. I can't leave him. Not as long as Lock and Barrel are still with him." Jack gave up. It was obvious that she had made up her mind; she'd be a Boogie boy till the day she died.

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?"

"You can leave whenever you want." Jack raised his hand towards her face and she flinched, as though she expected him to hit her. Instead, he gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I told you I wasn't going to hurt you, Shock." He said softly. She looked at him with her bright cat eyes, not sure if he was just being nice to trick her and be mean later, like Oogie Boogie did sometimes. Jack seemed to sense her unease, because he asked

"Boogie doesn't hit you, does he, Shock?" she froze, her hands finally stopping their endless movement and she looked like a statue, unblinking, barely breathing. It took her a moment to find her voice.

"That's not important." She said coldly.

"Yes, it is." Jack said, now worried about her and her 'brothers'.

"No, it's not. If he finds out that you know, he'll blame me, and he'll get angry with me." she stared at him, eyes wide with fear and still unblinking. Her breathing came out rapidly and she looked panicked. Jack tried to calm her.

"Shock, it's ok. He can't hurt you. Not while I'm here." He said soothingly, stroking her pale cheek with his thumb. Her body trembled, and she was numb in fear.

"He hurts us, Jack. Barrel's the youngest, so he gets it the worst. He has scars from Mr. Oogie Boogie. He doesn't care if you're here or not; he'll hurt us either way." A curtain of dark hair now hid her eyes from sight. Jack pulled her against his chest and she curled up in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"Don't worry, Shock. It'll be ok."

"How? He's not going to let us go. He'll never let us go." Her voice was muffled by his shirt. He sighed.

"Just trust me. Boogie knows how far his power goes; I have enough people to back me up, so he wouldn't dare challenge me."

"That's great for you, but what about us? Lock won't leave Mr. Oogie Boogie, and Barrel and I won't leave Lock."

"I promise, Shock, I won't let Boogie hurt you or the boys anymore." Jack said and they fell silent. After a while Jack realized that Shock had fallen asleep in his arms. He stood up and carried her to his bedroom, laying her down on the bed while he stayed up thinking.

The next morning, Shock woke up and found herself in Jack's bed. She stretched like a cat and walked to the kitchen, where she found Jack leaning against the counter reading a book.

"Hey Jack." She greeted and he looked up.

"Good morning Shock."

"Thanks for your help, but I should get going. Lock's probably worried out his mind."

"I understand, Shock. And you know where to find me if you need help again." He smiled at her and she gave a lopsided grin in return. She was gone in a matter of minutes and Jack sighed. He had never expected to take a liking to the Boogie-boys, but after talking to Shock, he decided that maybe they weren't as bad as he'd first thought. shock was thinking the same thing about the skeleton as she sprinted to the tree house she and the boys lived in. She burst through the door and found Barrel fast asleep on the kitchen table, snoring. Lock was pacing the living room and looked up when she came in. He grinned happily when he saw her.

"Shock! Thank god you're safe!" he ran up and hugged her. She was shorter than him, so he could easily rest his cheek on the top of her head. Then he held her away from him and scanned her, checking for any wounds.

"I'm fine, Lock." She reassured him. He grinned and ruffled her black hair affectionately. From that day forth, Jack found a soft spot in his heart for the Boogie-boys and Shock smiled at him whenever she saw him, and there was a new bond between the witch and the skeleton.


	2. Chapter 2

The Witch and the Skeleton

**Disclaimer: I do not own Nightmare before Christmas or its characters. This second chapter is two or three years after the first chapter, and is still mainly about Jack and Shock's new friendship but has more of Lock and some Sally in it. I originally wasn't going to continue this story, but lots of people seemed to like it so I wrote the second chapter. And this chapter kind of sucks, but I still want to thank all the readers who liked my first chapter and wanted me to continue. Had it not been for you guys, I would've never made chapter two. Characters act a little ooc, but I hope you all enjoy! **

Chapter 2

It had been years since Oogie Boogie had died, and the Boogie boys had changed a lot. Barrel's dark green hair was spiky and he had grown taller-he was now taller than Shock-but still four inches shorter than Lock. He still wore his skeleton jacket but his usual matching pants were so faded you could barely see the bones anymore. Lock had grown much taller and broader in the shoulders. He wasn't super muscular, but he was fit and surprisingly strong. His red hair was longer and shaggy, almost reaching his shoulders. He now wore a red jacket that he usually kept open to show off his six pack and make the girls swoon, though all of them knew he would never date any of the girls in Halloween town. Shock had changed the most dramatically. Her once long black hair had been cut short but was still as curly as ever. Her cat eyes were still amazingly bright, and her smile still as dazzling when she showed it. Her old pink dress had been discarded and replaced with a new beautifully made one that was given to her by Sally. The dress was a dark midnight blue, reaching a little above her knees and hugging her frame tightly. Her witch's hat had changed, too, and was now black with a huge eye in the middle of it that glowed when she did different spells. Instead of any sleeves, she had a leather strap on her right forearm and lace on her right wrist. Her stripes tights had been replaced by fish nets and showed off her pale legs. She had a black ribbon with a gold cat bell around her neck that had been given to her by Lock. She was now the most beautiful girl in the town. Every boy had fantasies about calling her his, but no one dared asked her to be theirs. Jack, Lock, and Barrel made sure of that. The older Shock got the more protective the three boys got. Her restless behavior hadn't changed one bit, and she was still constantly moving her hands like she had been the first time Jack met her.

"Lock, where's Barrel?" Shock's musical voice rang loudly in the house. Her voice had grown soft and sweet, but her personality had not.

"What'd he do now?" Lock looked up at his baby sister from his spot on the couch.

"He took my hat." She responded, walking over to him, arms folded. She had acquired a feline grace to her movements and a quietness the boys couldn't even hope to match. Despite the thick heel on her boots, they made no sound on the old wood. Lock sighed to cover up his laughter.

"Good. That stupid thing was giving me a dirty look anyway." He said. She frowned. He hated her new hat with the eye, especially when he and Barrel discovered it could blink and follow their movements.

"C'mon, Lock, I'm serious. You know I need my hat to perform the hard spells." Her powers were great, but she could only perform simple spells-like turning her brothers into frogs-without the hat. If she wanted to do something harder, like raising the dead (she did it for the mayor one Halloween), she needed her hat. Lock shrugged.

"O well. You didn't want to raise any zombies anyway did you, love?" he smirked. He had several pet names for her-love, sweetie, dear, and doll-and teased her to no end with his nicknames for her.

"Where is he, Lock?" she narrowed her eyes and he gave in. Shock could be scary when she wanted to be.

"Roof. Don't kill him." he said and she was gone. He smiled as he heard Barrel's loud yelp and Shock's angry voice. When the two came in, Shock's witch hat was on her head and she had a pleased look on her face, and Barrel was holding his red cheek. Shock went back to her room while Barrel joined Shock on the couch.

"One slap or two?" Lock asked him.

"One." Barrel mumbled in return.

"So she's in a good mood."

"Yeah. I think she's probably going to see Jack and Sally today." Barrel said. Lock nodded.

"Yeah, probably."

"Lock, I'll see you two later. I'm visiting with Jack and Sally today." Shock announced and Barrel shot his brother a grin that said _I told you so_. Lock threw his pitchfork at Barrel in return. Shock rolled her eyes when she heard her younger and older brother fighting. When she walked through Halloween town, she could feel the stares of the boys following every move she made. With an irritated sigh, she continued toward her destination.

_Boys are such idiots._ She thought. A little ways from Jack and Sally's house, one of the boys had the guts to approach her. That was his first mistake.

"Hey, babe, what's a pretty thing like you doing out here all by yourself?" he asked. Shock studied him. He had bright blonde hair and appeared to be a superhero.

_Halloween's getting less scary every year. Now fairies and princesses and super heroes are coming to Halloween town. I swear I'll throw up if I see another sparkly fairy princess in town next year…_she thought to herself. More and more people were dying on Halloween and it seemed that all the horror and gore that used to be Shock's favorite part about the holiday was starting to disappear.

"I don't see why that's any of your business." She responded acidly.

"Come on, babe, don't be that way." The boy smiled but before she could speak, a low, cold voice beat her to it.

"Call her babe again and I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to my dog." Jack Skellington towered over both youths, a frown on his face and a protective arm placed around Shock's shoulder. Without another word the super hero turned and took off, not looking back once as he could feel Jack's eyes shooting daggers at his back.

"You wouldn't really feed something that gross to Zero, would you?" Shock asked.

"Probably not. I would, however, feed it to some unsuspecting princesses…" Jack hated all the bright costumes as much as Shock did. She laughed.

"I'd love to see that, actually." Shock smiled up at the only fatherly figure she'd known. Jack glanced down at her. Her short hair was as messy as it had always been and curled magnificently.

"So why'd you decide to come out anyway? You didn't know I'd need your help, did you?" she asked. The ends of Jack's mouth twitched up into a smile.

"No. You're tougher than a princess. I just don't like you walking alone." He said and the two walked into Jack's house, where Sally was in the kitchen and Zero was lying in his bed by the door. He instantly barked happily when he saw Shock.

"Hey Sally." The witch greeted and Sally smiled.

"Hello, Shock. You and the boys doing well?"

"Yeah. We've changed the tree house a lot now that Boogie's gone. We painted all of our rooms again so it fits our personality. Lock's walls are painted with flames and his doors painted like the Gates of Hell, Barrel's room is a graveyard, and mine is a dark forest with a dragon in it." Shock's eyes lit up when she talked about the changes they made to their home and her smile widened when she thought of how much thought and work they'd put into it.

"Dark forest, huh? Not a torture chamber or something?" Sally asked teasingly. Shock shook her head and laughed.

"Nope. Torture is the dragon's job. I bewitched him so he's a real, living, breathing dragon and the forest is his home. If anyone enters without my permission, he shoots fire at them and if they get close, he'll pull them into the forest." She said happily. Jack couldn't help but be impressed. Her powers really were great. Sally came out holding a plate full of snacks and the three sat at the couch, enjoying each other's company.

"Hey, all those new girly costumes won't be put in the Halloween celebration, right? They'd probably get scared anyway." Shock said to Jack, who sighed.

"I tried convincing the mayor to let them do whatever the hell it is they do on Halloween in the Town Hall while the normal Halloween residents do our normal traditions, but he won't agree to it. Says we have to learn to get along. But if those princesses can't be scary, we'll just have to scare them instead. We've never scared an audience before…" Sally cut Jack off with a disapproving frown and an elbow to the ribs, but he only smiled charmingly at her. Shock grinned at him and he winked at her.

"If I have another little princess coming to me and crying because of one of you, I'll…" Sally started but Shock cut her off.

"Jack, she'll poison you're tea if you scare another princess." The witch said in a fake British accent, a teasing smile on her face.

"Shock, I'll drink it if another princess tried to have a conversation with me." Jack copied her accent and they both hid their laughter as Sally stood up, exasperated.

"And why shouldn't they try to talk to you? Jack, you're the Pumpkin King and Shock, you're the most powerful witch in the town! Everyone would love to see some of your magic tricks and you shouldn't scorn them just because they're not scary." Sally ranted. Jack quickly calmed her.

"You're right, Sally. It's very wrong of us and we won't scare them again." He said and pulled Sally down to sit next to him. Shock rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll go easy on them." She added. Sally sighed.

"They're not bad, you know. Yesterday there was this little witch I was talking to. She was adorable. Even said she wanted to meet you, Shock."

"A witch? Cool. What's she look like."

"She had blonde pigtails and a plastic wand and a pink dress with purple stars on it." She said and Shock looked thoroughly disgusted.

"Is she tough? Can she use any real magic?"

"She can grow flowers and make big yellow stars."

"O yeah, we'll have loads of fun. While she makes pretty little daisies I'll summon a Venus fly trap that'll eat hers. And I'm sure my dragon will love eating her bright stars-he likes ruining the happiness of others." Sarcasm dripped from her words like venom, causing Jack to laugh and Sally to sigh and shake her head.

"You two are horrible. I'll have to convince Lock or Barrel to dye your hair bright pink or paint your dragon over with flowers." Sally said and Shock stared at her in horror.

"You wouldn't!" she gaped.

"And why not?" Sally asked.

"You're Sally, sweet and kind and lovable Sally who I love dearly."

"She's got a point, Sally. You wouldn't harm a fly." Jack put an arm around her shoulders. Sally sighed again.

"O alright, you two are right, of course." She started cleaning up, putting the now empty plate in the kitchen and cleaning it. Jack looked outside. It had already been hours, and it was starting to get dark.

"Does Lock want you home at a certain time?" he asked. Lock and Jack weren't exactly friends, but they both understood how much the other meant to Shock so Jack respected Lock's wishes. Lock was the one who took care of Shock and Barrel and if he had a time he wanted her home, Jack would make sure she got home then. Shock appreciated the fact that they were at least trying to get along, especially since she knew they were likely to kill each other if they were in a room together for more than half an hour. She sighed.

"Yeah, he wants me home ten minutes after sunset, the obnoxious person he is." She rolled her eyes but Jack knew she enjoyed having her big brother watching out for her. He nodded.

"It's sunset now, so I'll walk you home. We should get there on time." Jack disappeared in the kitchen, telling Sally he'd be back soon, and returned to Shock. He walked Shock home, glaring at any boy who was stupid enough to watch her walk by. When they reached the tree house, Shock jumped up and gave Jack a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok? O and I forgot this earlier, but I made this for you and Sally. She reached up into her hat and pulled out a statue of a little fairy with black butterfly wings and black hair perched on a rock with a flaming tree behind her. Every few seconds the fairy would blink and her wings gently fluttered while the flames danced as if they were real, live flames, but they had no heat to them. Shock grinned up at Jack.

"Sally said she likes fairies." She said as way of explanation. Jack smiled and nodded. With one last good bye, Shock winked and disappeared, a group of crows flying through the place she had once been, a trick she'd learned a year after Oogie Boogie died. One crow landed on a tree and cawed while the others flew off. Jack shook his head. She really was an impressive young witch, and he was proud to be able to consider her his daughter. As Jack turned and started his walk home, Shock turned to watch him leave, a gentle smile on her face and a loving look in her eyes. She wouldn't tell a soul this and it was a secret she'd carry to her grave, but she might've just thought of Jack Skellington, the same person she used to fear and despise, her father.


End file.
